Pride
by bitterending
Summary: Kyouya comes to Tamaki when he has nowhere else to go. Companion to Mon Ami. [TamakixKyouya]


Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me.

"Comiiiiing!" Tamaki flew towards the door, pushing past his butler to answer it himself. The storm outside had almost made it impossible to hear the light tapping at the oak doors, but Tamaki had heard it. He only knew one person who ever came to his house that knocked like that, and that was Kyouya. Tamaki didn't bother wondering what Kyouya was doing at his house at almost midnight–a time where Kyouya would most likely be figuring numbers–he was just excited that he was _there_.

There was a short pause where Tamaki took in Kyouya's appearance. His clothes were rumpled, and he was utterly _soaked_. His glasses were askew, an obvious sign that they were broken. Tamaki looked past him to see there was no car around. "How did you get–did you _walk_ here?" Kyouya nodded gently. "Without a…without so much as an umbrella?" Another trite nod. Tamaki felt a faint flutter of worry in the pit of his stomach. "Why?" He asked, his voice starting to border on panic.

"I…I had no choice."

"What does that mean? What's wrong? What happened?"

Tamaki's emotions immediately started to flare, causing Kyouya to let out an exasperated sigh. Tamaki reached out and grabbed Kyouya by the wrist, pulling him inside. Kyouya resisted the urge to shake the water from his hair and instead took to drying his glasses. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"You already asked that." Kyouya said bitterly, repositioning his glasses.

"You still haven't answered!"

It was obvious that Tamaki was starting to assume the worst. Kyouya could almost see the wheels turning in his head. _Who died, _he was probably thinking, or, _which stock crashed?_ Kyouya shook his head, as if to assure Tamaki it wasn't all so bad, but Tamaki was not easily relieved. "I…" Kyouya found he couldn't look Tamaki in the face as he explained, so he directed his eyes to the ground. "I've been disowned." He said it plainly, as if it were no worse than getting a stain on a jacket. There was a long silence, and then Kyouya added, just below a whisper, "I apologize for disturbing you so late, Tamaki, but I'm afraid I have nowhere else to–"

Kyouya cut himself off with a yelp as Tamaki's arms were abruptly flung around his neck. "Tamaki, you'll get wet–" Tamaki refused to let go of him for a moment, and Kyouya wondered for a second if he was crying. The suspicion was doused however, when Tamaki started babbling about adopting him as his brother. Kyouya groaned. "Look, I don't need–" Kyouya started to say, but it suddenly hit him. Where _was_ he going to live? He'd automatically thought of Tamaki as a short term residence, but what about in the long term? Now he had no money. No house. No support from his lineage. _No money_.

"Oh, God…" Kyouya whispered breathlessly, his eyes widening, "What am I going to do?" Tamaki separated from him at that moment, eyeing him warily as if preparing for the breakdown. He put a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder, but Kyouya seemed to have forgotten Tamaki was even _there_. He stared unblinkingly at the marble floor, his breathing starting to get slightly ragged.

"Don't worry, Kyouya, we'll think of…" Tamaki trailed off as Kyouya clutched his chest, his knees buckling. "Kyouya? Are you–" before Tamaki could even finish his sentence, Kyouya fainted, Tamaki catching him by the shoulders before he fell with a sickening crack onto the floor. Tamaki looked briefly at the stairs, scanning for one of his maids before hoisting Kyouya in his arms himself and carrying him to the entrance hall loveseat. "Kyouya? _Kyouya_?" Tamaki tapped gently at Kyouya's face until an annoyed frown swept over his best friend's face. Kyouya sat up with a grunt.

"How'd I get here?" Kyouya asked irritably, pushing his glasses back up his nose only to have them fall down again.

"You fainted. I think you might've had a panic attack." Tamaki plucked them from his face and tried vainly to reshape them. "Are you okay?" He asked gently, twisting the wire frames in a way they most certainly were not meant to twist. By the time Kyouya had snatched them back, they only slid further down his nose. Tamaki pouted.

"Surely, walking in the rain doesn't bend your glasses completely out of shape."

"Of course not. _That_, Tamaki, would be _you_."

Tamaki glared, and Kyouya sighed again, faced with another explanation he had wanted to avoid. He looked vaguely to the left, his head bowed as he spoke. "There was a-an argument." Kyouya said slowly, shivering slightly from his sopping clothes still clinging to his body. Silence dragged for a minute as Tamaki waited for Kyouya to say something he never would. With a sigh, Tamaki grabbed his arm.

"C'mon." Tamaki said gruffly, "Before you freeze to death." Tamaki dragged him to the main bathroom, starting the bathwater and ordering him to relax. Kyouya shut the door behind Tamaki and undressed, starting to climb into the tub when the door swung open again. Kyouya felt a blush crawl up his neck when Tamaki handed him a big warm towel and a facecloth. "_Tamaki!_" he blustered, seizing the towel and wrapping it around his waist. Tamaki beamed at him and disappeared with a hasty apology.

Kyouya wasn't in the tub for longer than three minutes before there was a knock at the door. "Do you need anything?" Tamaki asked from behind the door. Kyouya stared at the door for a moment. Of course he needed something. He needed to go back home.

"No." Kyouya finally answered.

"Do you want me to come in there and keep you company?"

"N-_no!_"

Kyouya startled when the door opened, regardless of his dismissal. "I figured I should be here anyway, in case you fainted again." Tamaki said playfully, scooting a large metal chair from the front of the mirror to a spot beside the tub. Kyouya flushed and brought his knees to his chest in a vain attempt at modesty. Tamaki failed to take the hint. "We'll think of something, Kyouya, don't worry. If worst comes to worst, my father will easily pay for the rest of your schooling. I'm sure he doesn't mind. After all, he _loves_ you." He looked down at Kyouya to see him resting his forehead against his knees. "K-Kyouya?"

Tamaki slipped gracefully out of the chair and got to his knees, putting a hand on Kyouya's back and trying to look him in the face. Kyouya pulled away. "Leave me alone." Kyouya's voice was soft, but menacing. Tamaki ignored it completely.

"Are you crying?"

"No."

"Kyouya…"

"I _said_ to leave me alone."

Tamaki suddenly lunged at his friend, wrapping his arms affectionately around the other's neck. Kyouya jumped clumsily, causing water to splash all over the marble floors and Tamaki. "TAMAKI! GET _OFF_ ME!" Kyouya shouted, his calm temporarily eclipsed by his embarrassment. He thrashed slightly, trying to shake Tamaki away, but Tamaki refused to let go.

"Don't cry, kaa-san! Tou-san will make sure you're taken care of!"

"Stop calling me that!" Kyouya flustered, "and I _told_ you I'm not–"

Kyouya stopped abruptly at the feel of a hot tear sliding down his cheek before he could fully deny it. Tamaki looked horrified, obviously not expecting to be right. Kyouya wiped furiously at his eye and turned his face away, resting his head on his arms and staring at the wall. "Just leave me alone." He hissed under his breath. Tamaki sighed and left the bathroom. Kyouya waited until he heard the door close before releasing the silent sob that he'd been holding in his throat. "What am I going to _do_?" He asked himself for the second time that evening, "Going from being in one of the most powerful families in the country to completely homeless…"

His musings were cut short by the sound of a door opening. Kyouya stared open-mouthed at Tamaki, who was holding a set of flannel pajamas in his arms. "You didn't honestly think I was going to leave you in here to drown yourself, did you?" Tamaki asked, smiling. "I think you should get out before the water gets cold. It's not like you're getting clean, anyway." Kyouya shock turned to anger, and he roughly grabbed the towel from the counter and wrapped it around his waist.

Tamaki gave him enough privacy to change, and as much as Kyouya welcomed it, he didn't see the point after Tamaki had seen him naked the entire time he was in the tub. When Kyouya left the bathroom clad in Tamaki's sleepwear, he half-expected Tamaki to leap out of nowhere and tackle him into another overly supportive hug. He didn't even admit to himself that he was disappointed when he was greeted only by the empty hallway.

"Tamaki?" Kyouya asked tentatively, glancing about the hallway to see where he'd gone. When he heard no response, Kyouya automatically started towards Tamaki's bedroom, padding quietly down the hall so as not to disturb anyone who may be sleeping in any of the rooms nearby.

"Come in, Kyouya," came the light and cheerful voice when Kyouya rapped gently at the door. Kyouya stepped inside to see Tamaki also in pajamas, standing by his bookshelf for one reason or another. "Feel better, maybe?" Tamaki asked hopefully, turning to smile at his best friend. Kyouya stared blankly, unsure of what to say.

"I'm no longer cold." He answered flatly, and then looked out the door, towards the hall. "Which room should I–?" he asked, gesturing towards the doors outside Tamaki's room. Tamaki looked curiously at him a moment.

"This one, of course!" He cheered happily, gesturing vastly at his room. Kyouya shook his head, once again looking longingly out at the hall before turning back to Tamaki.

"Don't be foolish, Tamaki." Kyouya grumbled, trying to straighten his glasses again before remembering they were broken, "This is _your_ room. There's only one bed here. I can't sleep here. Which rooms aren't occupied?" Tamaki waved dismissively at him and grabbed his arm, tugging him along as he walked to his bed. Kyouya instinctively tried to pull away, but Tamaki kept his grip tight. He stopped directly in front of his bed and started to crawl onto it, tugging Kyouya along until he fell clumsily on top of the duvet.

"It won't kill you to sleep here, will it, Kyouya? I'd rather keep an eye on you in case you have another panic attack."

"I _won't_ have another _panic attack_, Tamaki! I'm _fine_!"

"You are _not_ fine."

Tamaki looked back at him, for once not smiling at all. "In the past hour you've been rejected by your family, fainted from anxiety, and _cried_." He said the last one as if it were the worst of the three, as if he'd never thought Kyouya had the emotional ability to produce tears. Kyouya bristled, insulted by his tone, but Tamaki continued seamlessly. "No one would be fine after being kicked out by their family. It's normal to be upset by something like that, I promise. You don't have to hide it, okay? That can be really infuriating when people try to pretend they're not human. Just because you're scared doesn't make you a loser." Tamaki paused to look at Kyouya again, but Kyouya seemed at a loss for things to say, so Tamaki continued.

"You came here asking for a place to stay, and then the whole time you keep trying to push me away from you. If you had _really_ wanted to be left alone, you would've stopped at a hotel. All you'd have to do is say your name and they'd let you stay for free–no one knows about your being disowned yet. You knew that, but you didn't stop at a hotel. You came here. To stay with me. Just admit that you _need someone right now._"

There was a long beat of silence as Tamaki waited for some form of response. That seemed, however, a little difficult for Kyouya to accomplish. "I…I think I like you better as a complete idiot." Tamaki grinned cheekily at him. Kyouya turned away from his million watt smile and frowned, feeling embarrassment in the pit of his stomach. "That doesn't mean you're right."

"Yes it does."

"Shut up."

Tamaki sat up and pulled Kyouya so that his back was flush against Tamaki's chest. Kyouya flailed about momentarily until Tamaki pinned down his arms. "I'll take care of you." Tamaki whispered into the crook of Kyouya's neck, "I promise." Kyouya's breath hitched in his throat, and Tamaki wondered if he was crying again.

"C'mon, sleep." Tamaki said shortly, pulling Kyouya by the waist so that he was lying on his side. Tamaki left his arm wrapped possessively around Kyouya, nuzzling into him and throwing the blanket over them both. Kyouya seemed awkward about the situation for a moment, but eventually gave up trying to escape it. When Kyouya finally seemed calm again, Tamaki propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over his best friend and smiling in his face, his gleaming white teeth visible through the dark.

"Mon ami." He chirped optimistically, leaning down to kiss Kyouya's cheek. There was a moment of silence as Kyouya stared at him dumbly. Finally, he reached up and smacked Tamaki lightly on the forehead.

"Mai baka," he grumbled in false irritation before falling asleep.

AN: Haha, I wrote this almost right after writing Mon Ami, and their similarity can be explained by the fact that I wrote this after finding out the whole story of Tamaki's mother and how that wouldn't really fit, so I tried to rewrite a second version. When I was finished, I couldn't decide which one I hated less...I mean liked better! XD So I put both up here.


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